God's judgment upon Jerusalem -- The sealed book.

¹⁾Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.

²⁾Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow:; andfor itthus hath the Lord said unto me, It shall be unto me as Ariel.;

³⁾AndThat I the Lord will camp against theeher round about, and will lay siege against theeher with a mount, and I will raise forts against theeher.

⁴⁾And thoushe shaltshall be brought down, and shaltshall speak out of the ground, and thyher speech shall be low out of the dust,; and thyher voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thyher speech shall whisper out of the dust.

⁵⁾Moreover the multitude of thyher strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away:; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

⁶⁾ThouFor shaltthey shall be visited of the LORDLord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

⁷⁾And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.

⁸⁾ItYea, it shall be unto them even be as whenunto ana hungry man who dreameth, and, behold, he eateth;, but he awaketh, and his soul is empty:; or aslike whenunto a thirsty man who dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh;, but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite:. Yea, even so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

⁹⁾StayFor, behold, all ye that do iniquity, stay yourselves, and wonder; cryfor ye shall cry out, and cry:; theyyea, areye shall be drunken, but not with wine; theyye shall stagger, but not with strong drink.

¹⁰⁾For, behold, the LORDLord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For, andbehold, hathye have closed your eyes:, and ye have rejected the prophets, and your rulers,; and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquities.

¹¹⁾And it shall come to pass, that the visionLord ofGod allshall isbring becomeforth unto you as the words of a book; thatand isthey shall be the words of them which have slumbered.

¹²⁾And behold, the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.

¹³⁾Wherefore because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore, the book shall be kept from them.

¹⁴⁾But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which menare the words of those who have slumbered in the dust; and he shall deliver tothese onewords unto another, but the words that are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book.

¹⁵⁾For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.

¹⁶⁾And the day cometh, that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the housetops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be, even unto the end of the earth.

¹⁷⁾Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it, save it be that three witnesses shall behold it by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein.

¹⁸⁾And there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men; for the Lord God hath said, that the words of the faithful should speak as it were from the dead.

¹⁹⁾Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book; and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word; and woe be unto him that rejecteth the word of God.

²⁰⁾But, behold, it shall come to pass, that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book, Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee:.

²¹⁾And the learned shall say, Bring hither the book and heI saithwill read them; and now because of the glory of the world, and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the man shall say, I cannot; bring the book for it is sealed:. Then shall the learned say, I cannot read it.

¹²²²⁾AndWherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book isand deliveredthe words thereof to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee:; and hethe saithman that is not learned shall say, I am not learned. 13)Wherefore Then shall the Lord saidGod say unto him, The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.

²³⁾Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work.

²⁴⁾Wherefore, when thou hast read the words which I have commanded thee, and obtained the witnesses which I have promised unto thee, then shalt thou seal up the book again, and hide it up unto me, that I may preserve the words which thou hast not read until I shall see fit in mine own wisdom to reveal all things unto the children of men.

²⁵⁾For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men, save it be according to their faith.

²⁶⁾And again it shall come to pass, that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him, Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honourhonor me, but have removed their hearthearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the preceptprecepts of men: 14)Therefore, behold,therefore I will proceed to do a marvellousmarvelous work among this people; yea, even a marvellousmarvelous work and a wonder:; for the wisdom of their wise menand learned shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

¹⁵²⁷⁾WoeAnd woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD,Lord. andAnd their works are in the dark,; and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? 16) And they also say, Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay:.

²⁸⁾But forbehold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of hosts, that I know all their works. For, shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

¹⁷²⁹⁾IsBut behold, saith the Lord of hosts, I will show unto the children of men, that it is not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,; and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?.

¹⁸³⁰⁾And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book,; and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. 19)The; and the meek also shall increase, and their joy shall be in the LORD,Lord; and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰³¹⁾For, assuredly as the Lord liveth, they shall see that the terrible one is brought to noughtnaught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: 21)That, and they that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of noughtnaught.

²²³²⁾Therefore, thus saith the LORD,Lord who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. 23)But; but when he seeth his children, the work of minemy hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. 24) They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.